The dismal condition of Education in Balochistan

Balochistan being one of the prosperous provinces has been explicitly and deliberately kept deprived of all sort of necessities beyond the political negligence, but the real cause of Baloch’s issue has been always tried to read between the lines erroneously on both national and international vanilla. The inattention which also can be refereed meanderingly a sort of dispossession of coverage comes from the worldwide defenders of human rights. They have never endeavored to get a glance at the worst situations of Balochistan in terms of human rights violation alongside educational status.

Since Balochistan’s annexation the land of Baloch has experienced many totalitarian tactics to peruse its overwhelming exploiting measures. On point of that it is a clear fact, Balochistan is a war torn area, the present insurgency has been tried to be dealt with irony responses and it is still being tried to keep on the counter policies.

The policy of keeping the inhabitants of Balochistan, majority of the Baloch areas most horribly dealt in terms of educational measures, where it has been reported to lag behind and the resourceful daughters and son of the land deprived from the blessing of quality education. The literacy rate is insignificantly pitiable, while the dropout rate is alarmingly increasing day by day and the plight of the education is considerably miserable.

Besides these all dysfunctionalities the statistics that the official provide regarding education are utterly based on contractions. The example can be best quoted as the statements of the concerned authority which have fluctuations given to the media personnel. However, the monitoring non-governmental organizations in Balochistan and the local people around give the statistics alarmingly diverse.

The dismal state of education in Balochistan can only be judged as the Convention on the rights of the Child and many of the global education goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, aim at ensuring the right to Quality education, which, unfortunately millions of children and women around the world are deprived of. When looking at the status of quality education in Balochistan whither Child or women both indicate towards a level of miserable. Regrettably, the former Chief Minister Dr.Malik Baloch, who claimed for educational emergency by enforcing article 25-A of the constitution, narrated conflicting figures about children out of school to mention it about 2.3 million whereas the former secretary education of his tenure Saboor Kakar put the figure at 1.8 million.

Their successors then gave the diverse educational statistics which clarified how dismal the condition of education is in Balochistan. Advisor to the Balochistan chief minister Sardar Raza Muhammad Bareech during all parties conference organized by Institute of Social and policy Sciences in June 2015 informed the media that the figure of children out of school is 1.7 million however, a large number of the girls and boys who remain out of school give way to serious doubts about the performance of the Nationalist-led government in the province.

Undoubtedly, the bleak picture of the state of education in Balochistan is deteriorated, the best portray which no one can narrate is lamentable. Education in Balochistan has deteriorated in such a way which cannot be explicitly exposed in an article, this deterioration and alarming state of education has been once displayed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to report about the ghost schools in Balochistan which figured approximately 5,000 and ghost teachers who receive their salaries on regular basis but the willingness from official on this regard never get a glance to make a startling revelation thinking which stubbornly may turn against their involvement.

Later on, Minister for Education Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal revealed on 21 May 2016, saying there is no record of 15,000 teachers, 900 ghost schools with almost 300,000 fake registration of students. What the official brought ahead to take prompt actions or withhold the salaries of the ghost teachers, still seems to be out from cognition.

Leave Balochistan out from the pages in terms of education, let us have a look at the federal educational status far behind in the sights of international community, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British Ranking Agency portrayed that despite the government’s claims to have invested billions in the education system, Pakistan secured the lowest ranking to be ranked world’s weakest higher education system. Just imagination can reveal how will be the condition of education in Balochistan.

Very recently on 29 September 2017, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against nine officers of the provincial education department for allegedly recruiting hundreds of fake teachers in Balochistan.

Another fresh report as for as official records are concerned has revealed that there are more than 13,000 government-run primary, middle and high schools in Balochistan and the survey publicized that nearly 1,400 schools are missing in the province.

As for as the views of the common people in Balochistan are concerned, they repeatedly criticize governments to say angrily that governments came and went, they made many promises regarding Education, passed many bills or resolutions in order to address educational issues in the province, awkwardly, all the Govts failed to fulfill their promises and changes a practical shape. The total budget for education has been allocated by Provincial Govt is 16.5pc but the improvement that is anticipated ever is still mislaid.

Another serious issue that the educational measures in Balochistan confronting is dysfunctionality of the school managements, dilapidated status of school infrastructure, lack of technical education, dearth of medical and law colleges, regional languages partial enactment in the instruction of medium and the insufficient supply of modern based prerequisites. These all deprivations judge via a tangible survey without any pressurizing involvement will enable anyone to come into an end over the dismal condition of education in Balochistan.

On the other hand, Balochistan being a war-torn area, the state institutions and security forces have sieged many of the schools and inter colleges in rural areas, where they continue to disturb educational activities. The teachers and students also face harassment in the educational institutions of Balochistan.